Key the Metal Idol is an underappreciated, cerebral and interesting anime which evokes feelings of Lain despite its coming out several years earlier. I would absolutely recommend it to fans of that and other 90s sci-fi anime like it. However, as much as I like this show, it's unfortunately held back by a premature cancellation which resulted in a final episode that essentially boils down to a feature-length info dump of what the final few episodes were meant to be. Because it exists in this half-formed and unpolished state, I give it a mixed review. However, to those who are willing to try it despitethese issues, there are some unexpected developments later in the story that make this series, if not masterful, at least highly interesting.